"Pure guesswork, but it looks like I actually guessed right,"
Heine chuckled.
"Catherine is dead, but as her lover and one born into the nobility of Saint Xiting, you remain honored and dignified, becoming the last grand duke of the bygone regime...
"Either this was a favor obtained for you by Lady Catherine during her reign—but from what I know of Xiya La, her mentor shouldn't have been such a person.
"Or, it was compensation granted to you by the Shadow Temple.
"So, there's only one answer: the ones who supported and then discarded her like a pawn were the old nobility intimately connected to you.
"This was partly out of consideration for Catherine and partly to appease you."
After a pause, he tugged at the corner of his mouth:
"I have a friend who described the situation in the Makala mountain region to me, and it's not much different from you pampered nobles.
